Firecracker
by as-lupin
Summary: Summer before HBP and Sirius is alive. After endangering both his beloved godfather and his friends, Harry has been very reclusive all summer. Can Harry's favourite Weasley cheer him up and make him see sense? HPCW


I couldn't get this out of my head, so I thought I would write my first one-shot!! (i.e. be nice) 

Pairings : Harry/Charlie and minor Remus/Sirius (rest of pairings as in the book)

Plot:

Summer before HBP and Sirius is alive. After endangering both his beloved godfather and his friends, Harry has been very reclusive all summer. Can Harry's favourite Weasley cheer him up and make him see sense? HPCW

NB. In this story, men can get pregnant, **but it isn't mpreg.**

Warning: SLASH!

**DISCLAIMER: ALTHOUGH I WISH I DID, I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER **

******

It was quite easy to say that the occupants of Grimmauld Place were fed up with Harry's "woe is me" behaviour. It appeared that his hero complex was in full flow and that no one could help him see sense and convince him the Ministry Fiasco was not his fault. Not even Sirius' persistence had paid off, instead it had led to Harry's temper letting loose on him, leaving scorch marks all the way up Sirius' right arm when he tried to get into Harry's room by force. This surprisingly gave way to even more guilt.

The twins had their turn with the Boy-Who-Sulked-Day-And-Night (a name they had created themselves). They had shown their benefactor a whole range of their newest products to help cheer them up and were so desperate they tested some of their less stable products and even that did not bring Harry from under his dark cloud. The twins were therefore rather upset that their efforts had gone to waste, especially as they couldn't sit down without a pillow for two weeks.

Therefore at this moment when everyone was gathered in the kitchen waiting for Mrs Weasley to finish cooking dinner, the room was filled with fun and laughter with the twins making fun of Ron and his obvious adoration of one Hermione Granger (who currently was buried in a very large tome on Ancient Runes).

Sirius, being the Marauder he was, joined in every now again whenever Remus didn't not reign him in. (Sirius fortunately didn't hear the whipping noises the twins were making whenever this happened.

Bill had returned to England and was now putting out cutlery for everyone with the aid of his little sister, Ginny. Percy had been welcomed back into the family and now was having a discussion about Muggles with Arthur as he thought he should indulge his father after his atrocious behaviour the previous year.

In fact the only person who was not part of the activity was surprisingly Harry. He sat at the end of the long table, opposite his Godfather at the other end, staring into space. The sparkle from his usually vibrant emerald eyes had disappeared and he rarely spoke to anyone, unless he asked to pass the salt.

Due to Harry's lack of communication, he did not know that the last of the Weasleys would be returning tonight and let's just say this certain Weasley might be able to put the sparkle back in his eyes.

Dinner began as a quiet affair, even when Tonks had arrived, therefore tripped over several times waking up all the portraits. Tonks had also tried her hardest to bring Harry to life, but even morphing her nose into a snout hadn't worked, and that usually was her last resort.

"Harry dear, would you like some more treacle tart?" asked Mrs Weasley in her motherly tone. It really upset her that Harry wasn't happy; after all, she was practically a mother to him.

"No thank you," Harry replied curtly

"Are you sure dear? You look awfully thin, thanks to those relatives of yours," she replied brightly.

"I'm fine Mrs Weasley, honestly."

"Are you sure dear, it is your favourite…."

"I'M FINE! WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY I'M FINE," exploded Harry, his fist clenched tightly as he stood up.

"Well, at least I know my firecracker hasn't lost his spark," said a new voice from the doorway.

"CHARLIE!" exclaimed Harry, as he ran to greet Charlie and nearly tackled Charlie to the ground with his hug. Luckily for Harry, he was as a light as a feather, so was no trouble for the dragon handler.

"Hullo firecracker. I thought you would have grown at least a couple of inches since I last saw you."

"Don't call me that! And I have grown, for your information!"

"Oh really, how much, a centimeter?" joked Charlie, resting his head on the raven haired boy's head.

"No, I grew two whole inches!" boasted Harry, still held firmly in Charlie's embrace.

"Wow, what does that make you, 5"2?"

"Don't be mean! I'm 5"6 actually!" Harry said whilst Charlie rubbed his arm from where Harry had slapped him rather hard.

The rest of the kitchen watched this exchange in awe. How did Charlie, someone Harry had met only one or twice in his life, be able to cause such a turn around? However everyone didn't really mind as this was the first real smile Harry had given since the Ministry fiasco.

Unknown to everyone in the kitchen, Harry and Charlie and formed some what of a bond during the Quidditch World Cup as it appeared that the Boy-Who-Lived had a secret passion for dragons. Since then, they had been exchanging letters constantly and the letters had never been more than a week apart.

"Wow firecracker, you really have grown up since the last time I saw you," Charlie said whilst his eyes were all over Harry.

Although Harry blushed at this comment, it was true. Last summer, Harry had enlisted the help of Tonks to help him get rid of Dudley's cast offs and buy him a brand new wardrobe. Apparently, Harry was hiding a very nice body underneath those rags as Charlie couldn't help but keep staring at his firecracker.

"I told you not to call me firecracker!" Harry said in a venomous tone, once he stopped blushing

"Would you prefer minx? My little snitch? Snookums?" Charlie replied innocently without trying to laugh.

The whole room burst into laughter, even Hermione who found time to stop reading and interact with the people around her. Harry settled for kicking Charlie in the shin, which led to the red head squealing in pain, which only fueled the laughter in the room.

After taking pity on poor Charlie, Harry led him to the table and took a seat beside him, whilst Molly Weasley set a plate of treacle tart in front of him. Charlie began to chat to the people around him, and unfortunately didn't notice that bit by bit, his slice of treacle tart was getting smaller. When he finally got round to eating, he looked down and saw all his treacle tart was gone. Charlie looked to his left and his eyes narrowed on the raven haired boy sitting next to him.

"Do you have any idea who stole all of my treacle tart, Harry?" Charlie asked whilst staring at the notorious treacle tart lover.

"It was the treacle tart fairy! I tried to stop her but she just wouldn't have it!" Harry replied, whilst giving his best puppy dog eyes which made Charlie's heart melt and his expression soften.

Harry accepted this as forgiveness from Charlie and rested his head on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie responded by wrapping an arm around Harry and ruffling his hair with his free hand.

"I'm sorry, but since when were you two an item?" Sirius questioned bluntly as the whole room tensed as he spoke.

Harry's eyes widened at this comment and he was completely caught off guard. Within seconds Harry left Charlie's warm embrace and sprinted up the stairs and into his room. Charlie soon followed him, wondering what caused Harry to run off.

Before Mrs Weasley could even speak, Hermione took an apple from the fruit bowl and hurled it at an unsuspecting Sirius. The apple struck Sirius on the forehead resulting him in releasing a howl of pain. He raised his head to give Hermione an incredulous look but was met with a gaze that contained so much venom; a basilisk would be put to shame.

"I knew you were a fool Sirius Black, but I thought you would have at least a shred of intelligence in that big head of yours." Hermione said in a tone that could cause a Death Eater to cower in fear.

"I don't understand what I did wrong…."Sirius trailed off.

"You don't understand what you did wrong! Not only was Harry coming out of his shell, but he was actually laughing! But then, you just had to go and ask him that stupid question! Isn't it pretty obvious that Harry likes Charlie?"

"That's what I thought…."

"Yes, and don't you remember that Charlie already has a boyfriend in Romania, who he's madly in love with?"

"Oh yeah, that…"

"Yes that! And now you have completely humiliated Harry and who knows how long it will take to fix!"

"Wait a minute Hermione," Bill interrupted. "Charlie told me that he and Hugo broke up a month ago, something about not wanting the same things anymore"

"See! There you go Hermione, I did nothing wrong!"

Before Sirius could continue, it was Remus' turn to whack some sense into Sirius. Honestly, sometimes Remus wondered what he saw in this man.

"Be that as it may Sirius, Harry obviously wouldn't know. Any letters sent to him a month ago would be diverted from Privet Drive to here and since Harry hasn't bothered to read any of it, he would not have read the letter from Charlie."

"Oh, you might have a point there…."

Remus promptly put a hand over Sirius' mouth as everyone heard footsteps from the main floor. Seconds later, Charlie came trundling down with a look of dejection on his face. It seemed the antidote to Harry's mood only had short term effects.

******

It was the middle of the night and whilst everyone was asleep, Harry sat at the kitchen table with a glass of water, willing his nightmares to go away.

Harry understood that no one blamed him for the Ministry fiasco but it didn't matter. His friends could have easily died and how could he not be guilty? Did he really think that 6 students with dueling experience from the DA would be a match for highly skilled Death Eaters? Not to mention that if Bellatrix's curse had struck Sirius, he probably would have been dead now.

This is why it frustrated him that everyone seemed to forgive him so easily when they could have easily died! And it was his entire fault!

"Knut for your thoughts," said a voice from behind Harry, startling him from his thoughts.

"Charlie, what are you doing up?" asked Harry, staring at the red head who was currently only wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms.

"I couldn't sleep, with the time difference and all. Plus, as a dragon handler, you never really sleep."

Charlie made his way around the table and opened up a cabinet, clearly searching for something. When he couldn't find it, he gave an annoyed sigh and turned around again.

"Mrs Weasley hid all the Firewhiskey after she caught Sirius trying to give Ron and I some."

"Ha, sounds like Sirius. Never mind. So what's got you thinking such dark thoughts?" asked Charlie as he perched on the table, Harry soon joining him.

"How do you know they're dark thoughts? I could easily be thinking about Quidditch!"

"You purse your lips and scrunch up your nose when you think dark thoughts," Charlie replied in a know-it-all fashion. "So, answer the question small fry!"

"Small fry?"

"Would you prefer firecracker?" The glare received gave Charlie his answer.

Harry gave a resigned sigh and began to tell Charlie everything about the Ministry fiasco and how he felt guilty for nearly leading his friends to their deaths. To Charlie's credit he didn't dismiss what Harry said, but he listened diligently until he was finished.

"I understand how you feel but can I ask a question?" Charlie continued after Harry nodded. "If you were in Ron or Hermione's position, would you have gone to the Ministry?"

"Well, yes I would have."

"And why's that?"

"Because I care about them and I wouldn't want them to get hurt…." Harry trailed of in realization of Charlie's point.

"Exactly, so you can't take responsibility for their actions as they will follow you because they care about you and love you. Just as much as you care and love them."

"I get your point Charlie, thanks."

"I have another question, why did you run off at dinner today? Do you find being with me repulsive?" Charlie joked.

When Harry wouldn't reply, Charlie grabbed him by the waist and Harry screeched in surprise. Without warning, Charlie launched a full blown tickle attack on the young Gryffindor, causing him to laugh madly. During this time Charlie kept chanting "Tell me"

"Because I love you!" blurted Harry, the shock evident on his face as he revealed his most guarded secret.

"What?" replied Charlie, who had promptly halted his tickle attack.

"I love you but I know you love Hugo and I would never come in between that so that's why I was never going to tell you…."

"Harry," interrupted Charlie, "Hugo and I broke up a month ago, didn't you read my letter?"

The expression of surprise on Harry's face clearly meant no. However before Harry could speak, a pair of lips came crashing down on his own. After a few moments, Harry began to kiss back and was engaged in the battle of tongues which Charlie eventually won out.

Charlie lay Harry along the table, knocking Harry's glass of water off the table with a resounding smash but was not registered by the couple as Charlie broke the kiss and began a trail of kisses down Harry's neck, causing Harry to moan loudly and tilt his neck to give better access. Harry then wrapped his legs around Charlie's waist to bring him closer which made both boys groan in appreciation.

Charlie's hands began to wonder below Harry's flimsy shirt, leaving a trail of fire wherever they went causing Harry to moan louder. Charlie then left Harry's neck in favour of his chest. Both boys were so lost in each other, they didn't realise the horde of wizards running down the stairs at the disturbance the broken glass caused until,

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

Both boys were frozen in their current position which was… extremely awkward. In fact one could see the steam coming out of Mrs Weasley's ears.

"CHARLIE WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE POOR INNOCENT BOY! YOUR FATHER AND I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN TO DO THAT! AND ON THE KITCHEN NO LESS??..."

Before Mrs Weasley could continue her rant, Remus pointed out that the boys couldn't reply and released the spell. Both boys scrambled apart, trying to hide their obvious….enjoyment. Harry scanned the room and to his horror, the majority of the Order stood in the kitchen, wands poised at the supposed attackers. The crowd of Order members parted to reveal Headmaster Dumbledore, who stood there, with his eyes twinkling.

"Well, it seems that our intruders were just a pair of lovebirds. However I do suggest that you keep your activities to the bedroom, less chance of being heard and discovered."

By this time, both Harry and Charlie were bright red in the face and obviously thoroughly embarrassed. Harry's gaze turned to Sirius, seeking approval from his guardian.

"Does he make you happy, Harry?"

"Yes." Harry said, whilst looking up at Charlie who in turn stared lovingly at Harry.

"Well then, if you excuse me, I'm going to bed. Remember Charlie, you knock him up, I knock you out."

And with that, Sirius grabbed his lover by the hand and left the room.

******

SO……..how was it??

Reviews are really appreciated.

By the way, I'm not giving up "Unattainable Beauty", I just had to get this story out of my head!

And if you don't know what "Unattainable Beauty" is, check out my profile!! (like how I slipped that in)?


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